Collected feedback from Babli, on Cabaret Travels 1

Ok, soooo, since I can't seem to be able to post comments for the past few weeks- who knows what's the glitch--
here my collected feedback for the three of you in a post:


Anj:

Anj, there are some very very interesting mmt moments here- I like the way the rhythm of the music is affecting your bharatanatyam steps.

particularly interesting mmt moments are:
time code:
shoulder mmt: 00:19-00:22
mmt sequence 00:25-00:52
ending: 1:27 onwards

I am a bit confused about braid in beginning: it's a
very feminine gesture around 1:15-1:20

that seems to be in contrast to a BD woman

Cynthia:

1. How is the vocabulary of abhinaya and kathak transformed through engagement with the blues song? 

I like how it affects your general physicality and Particularly in the rhythm sections, and looseness in the knees, and hips

 Do you find the transformation promising or simply out of place? 

Promising for sure

Do you feel the piece is able to access the emotional layers and depth of more "traditional" abhinaya?  

I feel it has the potential, but given that its only a minute it did not go there yet

2.  Do you find it problematic that I'm appropriating cultural material produced from a working class black American female experience?

not any more than dancing a form with a courtesan legacy :)

either way,  there are of course historical, class and race differences to be addressed and reconciled in the process-- that to me makes it promising and exciting  on w hole different level

3. What moments and movement vocabulary stand out to you as promising directions?  What would you like to see developed further?  What parts would you throw out?

 don't see any movement I would chuck out as such--- I would love to see all that is there to be taken further as the piece goes on….

even though both the "crooked" mmt and the "push" on the upper chest are close to the text I love the qualities and would build on that--

also the matching rhythms

4. Discuss the text-movement relationship.  What does the movement add to the lyrics in terms of meaning, emotion, etc?

At first viewing I frankly did not pay attention to the text-movement relationship as such-- your physicality, the mix of textures and physicality's and emotionalities in the abstract are way too exiting. But if you are asking me to look at it specifically: I would say it feel like a "first repetition" in abhinaya to me, which is rather close to the text. Since in the song structure of the blues songs there may not be the scope for multiple repetitions, it may actually be a challenge to go he next step. Maybe the chorus is a potential?

Shy:

1.  Do you find anything interesting in terms of the movement choices?  Please point out any moments that stand out to you, or that you could imagine developing or exploring further. 

hands, in the beginning - near the camera until the pulling/gliding with "jazz hands" (until 00:30, from very beginning on,

but actually, even after 00:30 until 00:50 (eyebrows), what makes the movements super interesting here is how you use the camera and move side-side and further away/closer to…

the eyebrows are awesome, with your serious/sultry look - (reminds me of one brief  moment in the rocky horror picture show….)

 and at the end (last 5 seconds) 

the flower accented on the chimes (00:58?)

hand on should while turning around and then down the arm (around a minute-01:07)

2. I am interested in Bob Fosse's tactics of creating sexual tension because it relates to our previous work on courtesans and how the classical Indian dance forms that they practiced have often been de-sexualized.  It seems the opposite of the stereotype I have of the jazz dancing that evolved out of Fosse's work as an over-sexualized, unsubtle commercial form.  I was working on tapping into what I feel Fosse's original intent was here, but am not sure what purpose I might serve by doing so.  When reading about Cabaret I was very interested in the possibility for satire and political commentary but couldn't come up with a clear idea to make this study take that route.  What, if anything, could this study be accomplishing?  Does it comment on alapadma and jazz hands or anything else in any meaningful way?  If not, how could I modify it to contain some sort of subversion, satire, or political commentary?  

I really like it visually and in terms of the atmosphere it creates-- it works set in a private environment, taking the movements and the dance out of the public space of a bar.

It does comment on jazz/alapadma connection in that it-- I feel at least-- brings the Indian elements in, highlights their eroticism, but does not "exoticize"-- why it does not I am not sure… definitely the costume.

I think that is the route it can be subversive-- at least in a specific context, for a specific audience.

3.  Any other comments, ideas, and/or connections to cabaret or others' creative responses?

I really like the camera/mirror/focus work-- I think there is something very very interesting there!